Citzen Kidnapped in Deir El-Balah

Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms

Use of Arms in Personal and Clan Disputes

Field Update

5 March 2006

Citzen Kidnapped in Deir El-Balah

On Tuesday, 7 March 2006, gunmen kidnapped Ala’ Awad (27) from his workplace in Deir El-Balah, in the middle of the Strip, and took him to an unknown location.

PCHR’s initial investigation indicates that at approximately 23:30 on Tuesday night, an armed group stormed El-Banna Bakery, in El-Salam Street in Deir El-Balah. They fired their weapons, and beat Ala’ Awad, a worker in the bakery. Awad is a resident of Beach refugee camp in Gaza City. The gunmen took him to an unknown location. According to information the Centre obtained, he was released two hours later. And the kidnapping was motivated by a clan dispute.

PCHR expresses concern over this crime, which is a continuum of the security chaos in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The Centre calls upon the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), represented by the Attorney-General, to investigate this crime, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.